Gas prices increase amid drop in wind generation

Restricted volumes and a drop in wind generation spurred gas prices on Thursday, as natural gas prices were once again lifted higher.

All curve contracts surged during morning trade before stabilising mid-afternoon. The end result was an increase of circa 0.085p/kWh across near curve contracts when compared to their previous settlement.

Outages at Norwegian and British gas facilities likely played as the prime source of support, data from offshore operator Gassco shows that both the Troll and Kollsnes facilities were taken offline for unplanned maintenance throughout the session.

Furthermore, National Gas data shows the Barrow terminal was also taken offline during the same period.

Additionally, a drop in wind-generated power played further into the bullish sentiment. According to data from National Grid, wind-output dropped by more than 18% day-on-day, prompting increased reliance on gas-fired demand which subsequently increased by 12% when compared to the same period.

This morning gas prices have softened at the NBP, with the Winter-24 contract last trading around 0.07p/kWh below its previous settlement at time of writing.

The UK is currently consuming 29.91 GW’s of electricity (10:00 – 10:30).

The UK’s onshore and offshore wind turbines are currently generating just 1.38 GW’s (4.33%) of the UK’s total electricity with solar generation at 3.92 GW’s (12.29%), Nuclear at 4.69 GW’s (14.70%) and gas for power generating a massive 13.39 GW’s (41.95%) of the total.

If you want to see more information on the wholesale market trends subscribe to our weekly report here.